Mixed Blood
On the mean streets of New York City, a dog-eat-dog mentality reigns among the destitute citizens. In one of the many abandoned buildings in the neighborhood of Alphabet City lives the Brazilian Rita La Punta, along with her delinquent son, Thiago, and a gang of Hispanic teens charged with selling heroin and cocaine. When Rita and her young gang members get involved in a minor turf war, the violence escalates out of control, touching everyone and sparing no one.
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- Cast:
- Marília Pêra , Rodney Harvey , Linda Kerridge , John Leguizamo
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Reviews
just watch it!
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
OK...I was surprised at all the positive reviews...I really expected to see more reviews panning this movie. Now even though I think this movie is BAD (mainly due to horrible acting by pretty much everyone EXCEPT Marília Pêra, who is completely whacked and SO good at it.) I do have to say that I love the soundtrack, the disturbing poverty of the neighborhood with it's dilapidated buildings and drug dealers at every corner, crude dialog kind of intrigues me...and what's with Tiago?? I still cant figure out if he has a mental disorder or if his accent really is just as bad as his acting! Whatever the heck is up with this movie, I cant keep myself from watching it!! If you are a fan of "bad 80s" then you will love this movie! I may even have to buy it to add to my collection...which includes Roller Boogie...is that wrong?
Yes it was cheesy throughout many parts, but a great deal of this movie was authentic! The fearlessness of the kids, the clothing (from lumberjack coats to RUN-DMCish leather fur hooded bombers). The abandoned buildings, prostitution on dirty mattresses in an empty lot, people getting thrown off roofs, wild random shootouts, disrespect of the police, dirty police, the music, everything was just authentic! One poster on here tends to think that a lot of what went on in this movie was far-fetched, I have news for you my friend, it wasn't!!! That's how crazy it used to be in the ghettos of NY (although I never knew Alphabet city was just as bad as the Bronx or Uptown Manhattan) before Rudolph Giuliani came into office. It's like an unrated, more violent version of the movie Beat Street, lol. I tell ya, I caught this flick late at night on Showtime and I was immediately taken back to the old neighborhoods that I grew up in (bronx & uptown manhattan, Spanish harlem). Many of the scenes brought back crazy memories of the violence and just plain ghetto activity that used to take place back in those days. The bodies outlined in chalk, the casual demeanor when someone you knew got shot dead, aggggghhhhh, this movie was just crazy. If you want a glimpse of what the Bronx and Spanish harlem (and I suppose Alphabet City) were like pre-mayor giuliani, watch this movie. For those of you who have been there, you know what I am talking about. Cypress Avenue, 141 street, stand up!
I gave this film 9 out of 10 but on reflection it really should have been 10 as I can't imagine how anything could ever be better. "Mixed Blood" has a magical quality all of its own. The key ingredients are: hilarious dialogue, cool New York City vistas, fine soundtrack and, most notably, mesmerizing performances. This is not some crappy so-bad-it's-good exploitation film - it is the work of an artist with a unique and sophisticated sensibility and a great sense of humour.
MIXED BLOOD should pay special tribute to a guru of Andy Warhol who can't pinpoint New York City on a map. This gets cheesy starting at the first few seconds. A good story about "Mommy's" boys running a crime operation is dumped into the city landfill by mistakenly showing off poor production values, and a cruddy place to shoot a movie. I gagged throughout the whole thing, and you will, too. For the actors who were put on minimum wage, learning to use the sixth letter of the alphabet perfectly explains the name of the setting ("Alphabet City"). Godmother Rita is a slightly overweight Fran Drescher who performs a ridiculous singing number, turning this film into a laughable nightmare that later gets silly without even being noticed. You can smell the laughing gas that floats directly at your face! And if you can't stand the bloody violence that is eating our society, well, you most likely will, as poorly choreographed scenes will have you coughing up your fajita. MIXED BLOOD doesn't decide on whether it wants to speak Spanish or English. "Pathetic" is the word that speaks for itself. You might be interested in it if you still love Menudo.